News

EPIC signs partnership contract with Biffa

Vehicle graphics provider EPIC Media Group has signed a three-year contract as a preferred supplier for Biffa.

The Partnership, which EPIC says builds on over 10 years of collaboration between Biffa and EPIC, formalises working practices and provides improved value to the end clients.

EPIC says the contract, which went live on 30th September 2022, will codify EPIC Media Group’s vehicle graphic services to Biffa’s in support of their more than 3,500 strong fleet ranging from vans all the way up to large RCVs.

The suite of products covers EPIC’s “market-leading” changeable graphics system, full and partial vehicle wraps and safety signage.

We are thrilled to be awarded this contract.

Group Fleet and Procurement Director of Biffa, Steve Cole, said: “Our fleet spans the whole of the UK, it is important that we have a vehicle graphics supplier whose service we can rely on. EPIC consistently demonstrates an exceptional customer service.”

Managing Director of EPIC Media Group, Kevin Murton, said: “We are thrilled to be awarded this contract. Formalising our relationship with Biffa was a natural progression for EPIC, building on a successful history of collaboration and shared commitment to providing clients with an exceptional service.”

Bin weighing represents a commercial “game changer” for JM Waste Management

Earlier this year, JM Waste Management brought in MOBA’s mobile weighing and RFID technology and it says is already seeing significant financial benefits.

Dan Stone, the company’s Director, reports that “we’re seeing an immediate 8-10% improvement in margins which is a huge game changer for us”.

“If the bin lid doesn’t fully close then our operatives can immediately guess that the bin is overfilled” Stone says. “However, up until now we’ve not been able to accurately measure the weight to determine if the customer has exceeded its contracted allowance, and means for each over-filled bin emptied we’d potentially make a loss”.

The company, with its main office in Bexhill and waste transfer site in Eastbourne, says it provides much of Sussex with a range of waste management solutions including commercial, food, hazardous and clinical waste collection as well as a skip hire service.

Recognising that it needed to address the issue of overweighed bins, the company says it went about looking for a bin weighing technology supplier.

“We did have an older truck fitted with another brand of mobile weighing but we weren’t happy with either its reliability or the support”, explains Stone. JM Waste Management turned to MOBA, and quickly like their approach.

All of its hardware and software technology is designed, manufactured and installed in-house.

“What we liked most of all”, says Stone, “is that all of its hardware and software technology is designed, manufactured and installed in-house which, if issues do arise in the future, are more likely to be resolved quicker than if there are multiple parties and products involved”.

JM Waste Management says the first truck has now been fitted with MOBA’s Dynamic Mobile Weighing and RFID technology, with the latter becoming fully operational once all JM Waste’s bins have been chipped later on this year.

It says that every binned is now weighed, including any additional loose bags that don’t fit in the bin, with the data accessible immediately. “This not only means we can monitor if weight is exceeded but gives us the ability to be more flexible with billing”, says Stone.

The JM Waste says that , if a customer is consistently under its usual 80kg allowance, it can negotiate a “better quote” based on the lower amount, which many of its competitors are unable to offer. Similarly, for every new customer it can tailor the contract to its specific waste needs, rather than providing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

JM Waste says that two more brand-new trucks are soon to be added to its fleet and, with both fitted with MOBA technology.

Landfill rates are the elephant in the room, Re-Gen Managing Director says

Joseph Doherty, Managing Director of Re-Gen Waste in Newry, says that claims that Northern Ireland is passing its pollution problems to other parts of the world are distracting from “the elephant in the room” – Northern Ireland Councils’ landfill rates.

He says: “It is difficult to believe that 234,000 tonnes of non-recyclable household waste were landfilled in Northern Ireland in 2021. We need to talk about the elephant in the room: the high landfill rates are down to those Councils not sending their black bin waste to companies in Northern Ireland that can extract the recyclable materials from the waste and then produce fuel from the remainder.

“The production of fuel from unrecyclable black bin waste prevents it from going to landfill sites where it will decompose and produce methane, one of the biggest contributors to global warming. Methane has an effect 21 times greater than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

“Therefore, Councils sending waste to landfill is having a greater impact locally by the generation of methane as a by-product than the carbon derived by sending the waste to fuel markets where it is used to generate heat and power as a coal replacement, in the case of solid recovered fuel.

“Our unrecyclable waste is divided into three categories: high-value material that is prepared for recycling waste fuel and manufactured for use in highly efficient heat and power plants, cement kilns, and landfill. Material in every wheelie bin should be considered a valuable resource.”

Material in every wheelie bin should be considered a valuable resource.

Re-Gen says the Northern Ireland Environment Agency monitors all waste and its quarterly statistics are always eagerly awaited.

However, Mr Doherty says that: “We need to assess statistics fairly: materials prepared for recycling, such as aluminium, steel, paper, cardboard, glass and plastic, that have been reported in the media recently, go to re-processors and shouldn’t be included in the ‘export’ statistics. A more realistic approach is to look at the domestic waste that is going to landfill from local authority collections.”

Councils sending waste directly to landfill rather than to recycling companies, denies the ability to extract such valuable recyclates, Re-Gen says. The company continues that once landfilled, materials cannot be recovered and virgin products have to be created to replace them and the carbon impact of creating those new materials must be considered.

Mr Doherty argues that; “We shouldn’t be landfilling our waste in Northern Ireland and we shouldn’t be burying our heads when it comes to waste management, especially when viable alternatives exist.

“At Re-Gen, we manufacture refuse derived fuel from unrecyclable waste which we export to combined heat and power plants in Europe.

“Our plant also manufactures solid recovered fuel which is used as an alternative to fossil fuels such as coal in cement kilns, helping to preserve natural resources and to reduce emissions.”

Currently, Re-Gen says it recovers more material in Northern Ireland than all other recycling companies and, with current plans, higher levels will be achieved. It says that plans for a £30 million circular economy resource park will significantly contribute to the circular economy and the reuse of waste material.

TOMRA’s FINDER technology more than triples throughput at Ward’s Automotive Shredder Residue plant

TOMRA says its Recycling Sorting’s latest sensor-based sorting solution for metals helps to more than triple plant capacity and significantly increasing the yield of recovered product for further refining.

The Recycling Sorting’s latest sensor-based sorting solution for metals has been chosen as part of an upgrade at Donald Ward Ltd’s (trading as Ward) automotive shredder residue (ASR) reprocessing facility in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

The upgrade of Ward’s Ilkeston ASR reprocessing facility took place in summer 2021 and, as part of the works, Ward invested in the latest version of TOMRA’s FINDER unit to boost the facility’s metals recovery.

TOMRA says FINDER offers metals reprocessors high throughput sensor-based sorting coupled with high yields. It is capable of effectively recovering high purity metal fractions, regardless of composition complexity or grain size.

Growing demand for high-value secondary materials is making high quality recycling increasingly attractive for our metals’ customers.

FINDER’s modular design means it is suited to both mixed waste and metal recovery streams but at Ward’s ASR plant it is used to sort and recover high purity target metal fractions from the ASR infeed, the company says.

TOMRA says its latest generation unit incorporates even more advanced technologies such as SUPPIXX® and Z-TECT to detect metal objects with ultra-precision, delivering high yield and purity levels for greater saleability of the recovered end fractions.

Segment Manager Metal Recycling Northeast Europe at TOMRA Recycling Sorting, Terence Keyworth, said: “Growing demand for high-value secondary materials is making high quality recycling increasingly attractive for our metals’ customers.

“Their end customers require iron, non-ferrous metals and metal compounds like copper cables to be recovered from the shredded material. Recovering and sorting these materials at the yield and purity for optimum added value requires sensor-based sorting technology downstream of the ferrous and non-ferrous metal separators.

“This is what Ward has done and now, with the latest generation FINDER unit working alongside their existing FINDER, they are really reaping the benefits.”

Updates

CIWM Focus Group Campaign

The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Focus Group is the first set of research activities designed to investigate how the UK Waste Industry uses and perceive software technologies.

The Project is focused on how collectively the sector can better understand industry requirements and software technologies and work more effectively together to improve commercial efficiency, meet net zero targets, and create a sustainable, circular economy.

CIWM says it needs your expertise and help. If you know or have an opinion on waste management software the focus group says it needs to hear from you to help shape the digital future of waste management.

ISB Global says it is working with CIWM to understand how waste management professionals in the UK use and perceive the benefits of the software technologies available to them.

CIWM will engage with its UK member base in an impartial and unbiased set of research activities. From a focus group, initial results, and subsequent webinar presentation, a report will be published to help understand how business software technologies are used in various contexts.

CIWM says it needs your expertise and help.

The results of this research will help to align the sector and software suppliers to create more efficient relationships that will contribute to realising zero targets and circular performance, ISB Global says.

ISB Global says the focus group will discuss the answers to the questionnaire, available online now. The results of the focus group and questionnaire will be further presented to the industry in a webinar and then those results will be compiled in a report. The results will be implemented where possible across the sector in an effort to create greater efficiencies throughout.

If you invest in, help implement or use daily waste management software or any software your waste-oriented organisation uses – public, private, large or small – fill in the questionnaire and impart your knowledge and skill in the focus group.

CTS Hire adds new electric vehicles to its fleet

Municipal vehicle hire company CTS Hire has joined forces with RH Commercial Vehicles (RHCV) to add two brand new all-electric Renault Trucks 26-tonne refuse collection vehicles (eRCV’s) to its rental fleet.

CTS Hire says this is the first time that councils and vehicle operators will be able to access such eRCV technology on short-term hire.

RHCV supplied CTS Hire with the Renault Trucks E-Tech D Wide electric rear-steer chassis which have been paired with the Dennis Eagle OL21 bodies and Terberg Xtra bin lifts. The trucks are powered by 4x 66kW lithium batteries, which are located in the wheelbase.

CTS Hire has also expanded its fleet with the arrival of four new 26t Refuse Collection Vehicles. The vehicles are all Mercedes Econic Dennis Eagle Olympus Standard Width RCVs fitted with Terberg Splitlifts and equipped with 360° camera systems and tracking technology.

Easy charging is also featured with the vehicle being specified with a charging port compatible with both AC and DC charging. It allows for modes 2, 3 and 4 charging from 22kW to 150kW. A full recharge takes less than two hours with a fast (DC) charge or overnight on a conventional industrial outlet and adapts to all situations, CTS Hire says.

We’re giving councils and fleet operators the opportunity to carry out a thorough appraisal of the technology.

The company continues that, due to its zero tailpipe emissions, the Renault Trucks D Wide E-Tech is qualified to operate in Low Emission Zones (LEZ) and Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ). Driver vision is aided by a window in the lower section of the near side slam door and it is also quiet for operating in urban areas with reduced noise pollution.

Bob Sweetland, Managing Director, CTS Hire: “We are delighted to be able to offer our customers the opportunity to hire the latest electric refuse vehicle technology. Although some councils have been able to trial demonstration eRCVs for a week or two, this isn’t always enough time to make a proper evaluation.

“By adding these vehicles to our hire fleet, we are giving councils and fleet operators the opportunity to carry out a thorough appraisal of the technology over a few months or more.”

CTS Hire is showcasing one of its new electric refuse vehicles at the forthcoming APSE Refuse, Recycling, Streetscene, Grounds and Parks Seminar 2022 on 19th & 20th October in Belton, after which both vehicles will be available to hire.

Limex – a new, sustainable alternative to paper and plastic.

Made from mostly limestone, Limex has recently been introduced into UK and European markets and is currently being trialled by several companies all over Europe.

LXD UK, the official suppliers of Limex, says it has a number of benefits when compared to paper and plastic – with one of the main appeals being its recyclability.

Recyclability is a major factor in responsible consumption, as it prevents the wastefulness of the product itself, and the energy consumed to make it, LXD UK says, which is why it conducted some tests on Limex to determine its recyclability

The results of the tests indicate that the density of the recycled Limex is higher, and the Tensile modulus is improved in comparison to a typical recycled material, LXD UK says.

The supplier also says that Limex blended and homogenised with recycled PP with no issues, positively indicating that Limex can be recycled into current waste management systems without issue.